HABITS OF THE BEETLE. 71 



those animals supply, and which are admirably 

 adapted for its purpose.* The dor or blind beetle 

 adopts a different course of proceeding ; and it must 

 excite our admiration of the infinite wisdom with 

 which every part of the economy of nature is 

 ordered, to observe that the method employed by the 

 female to secure a proper nidus for her eggs, serv'es 

 "to second, too, another use." She makes a large 

 cylindrical hole, often of considerable depth, and in 

 it she deposits her eggs, surrounded by a mass of 

 dung, in which they have been previously enveloped. 

 Here the labour of the insect ceases ; the develope- 

 ment of her young is secured, and their sustenance 

 provided. But the advantage resulting from her toil 

 does not terminate. The manure, which is positively 

 injurious to vegetation when lying in a mass, is not 

 only dispersed, but it is bxiried at the roots of the 

 adjoining plants, thus contributing considerably to 

 the fertility of our pastures, and, consequently, to 

 the well-being of aU those animals who depend on 

 these pastures for their support. 



Spring is in general far advanced before the dor 

 beetle appears, so that we usually regard it as a 

 summer visitant : an occasional one, however, ven- 

 tures to come forth at an earlier period, for in the 



* .Sturm, Deutschlands Fauna, i. 27, quoted by Kirby and Spence, 

 vol. ii. p. 475. 



